San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch and new cornerback Richard Sherman shared intimate details of their negotiations to Peter King of The MMQB – among them, a discussion about the Seattle Seahawks’ painful decision to throw the ball from the 1-yard line at the end of Super Bowl XLIX.

“I promise you, we won’t throw it this time,” Lynch assured Sherman.

Sherman was released by the Seahawks on March 9 and the veteran corner entered discussions with the Niners the following day.

In the whirlwind that followed, Sherman and his fiancee shared a four-hour dinner with 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and his wife. Sherman represented himself in contract negotiations, and even stepped out of his meeting with Lynch to call other interested GMs.

Aside from the money, the opportunity to stay on the West Coast, and the chance to play for a contender, the 49ers were uniquely positioned to give Sherman something else.

“We had something no other team could offer … the ability to play Seattle twice a year,” Lynch said.

Sherman didn’t dispute that aspect of the 49ers’ appeal.

“I’m vengeful in that way,” he said.

Sherman added, “I love the fan base to death, and I loved playing there. It was such a great opportunity. I helped the organization get to a great place and stay there. But now it’s like I abandoned them. People are out there burning my jersey. Come on. I’m not the one who let me go. Theylet me go. I didn’t abandon anybody.”

Sherman fought for a heavily incentivized deal that other teams like the Seahawks, Raiders, and Lions weren’t willing to offer. One such stipulation will award Sherman $11 million – what he would have earned with the Seahawks – if he plays in 90 percent of the team’s snaps in 2018 and makes the Pro Bowl, even if he can’t play in the game because the 49ers are in the Super Bowl.

“I don’t think any agent in the business could have done a better job of negotiating this contract,” Sherman said to King. “As long as I’m content with what I’m making, nothing else matters to me.”

The Niners traded for the impending free agent during the season and know they’ve acquired their quarterback of the future. Now, the franchise is working hard to lock him up long term.

“We believe we found the right guy,” general manager John Lynch said Wednesday on NFL Network, according to Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle. “Now, the challenge is getting Jimmy signed. We’re working hard towards that. We’ll see. I think he wants to be with us and we want him there. So I think it makes too much sense not to happen.”

Once Garoppolo suited up for the Niners, he made an immediate impact. His second throw with the team was a touchdown pass, as he took over a one-win club in Week 13 and led them to five consecutive victories to end the season.

Lynch previously stated his desire to sign the quarterback on a long-term deal in his season-ending press conference, and the franchise is still making moves to secure that future some three weeks on.

The San Francisco 49ers are reaping the rewards after starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has guided the team to five straight wins to end the season. Now, with the 26-year-old slated to become a free agent, general manager John Lynch hopes to lock him up long term.

“We’re going to work hard to try to keep (Garoppolo) as a 49er for a long, long time,” Lynch told Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle at his season-ending news conference on Tuesday. “We’re really happy with the way he played. We think he’s got some abilities that are unique and we want him here.”

Lynch said a collective decision was made not to negotiate an extension during the season and that both sides will discuss a new deal.

The 49ers made a surprise deal on Oct. 30 to acquire Garoppolo from the New England Patriots for a second-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. He made his first start with the 49ers against the Chicago Bears in Week 13 and hasn’t looked back, tossing seven touchdowns and leading the team to victories over the playoff-bound Jacksonville Jaguars and Los Angeles Rams.

Garoppolo is 7-0 in his career as a starting NFL quarterback as he won two games with the Patriots in 2016 in place of Tom Brady, who was suspended four games to start the season.

Garoppolo has been everything the 49ers hoped he would be – and then some – since they acquired him from the New England Patriots at the trade deadline, and San Fran is undefeated since inserting him into the starting lineup.

The early returns on Garoppolo, along with the wad of cap space the Niners are projected to have this offseason, should allow them to leap into NFC contention next term. Garoppolo, though, wasn’t so quick to hop aboard Hyde’s bandwagon vow.

“I’ll have to talk to him about that,” Garoppolo told reporters with a chuckle. “We’re dealing with the (Los Angeles) Rams next week and then we’ll look at everything else after that.”

With the 49ers struggling mightily earlier in the season, Hyde said he wasn’t interested in negotiating a new contract. However, he admitted Sunday he’s ready to change his stance.

“I feel we’ve got a chance to go the Super Bowl next year and I don’t want to go to another team,” he said.

Both Hyde and Garoppolo are scheduled to hit free agency this offseason. It’s unlikely general manager John Lynch will let his new franchise quarterback get away, but Hyde’s future is less certain given the declining value of veteran running backs around the league.

John Lynch would like to clarify his stance on protests during the national anthem.

Speaking on the subject earlier in the week, the San Francisco 49ers general manager stated that players have the right to protest racial injustice in America and that he’ll “always respect people’s rights.” However, he also characterized the practice as “divisive,” giving rise to the perception he wouldn’t tolerate players sitting for the national anthem.

“If I could take one thing back, I would have changed that word,” Lynch said Friday on KNBR radio, according to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee. “Because of the negative connotation. But I was really trying to make the point that our game should be a beacon for what can be.”

Lynch had previously explained he sees football as a unifier of people of various ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds and pointed to a scene during Thursday night’s preseason game in Philadelphia in which a white player put his arm around a black teammate who stood with a raised right fist.

“When I saw that picture of Chris Long and Malcolm Jenkins, I think that’s exactly what I was speaking to and what I think is so great about football, of how I think our society can be and how it should be – of people coming together,” Lynch said.

“When you’re talking to your 10-year-old and you’re trying to explain what’s going on (in Charlottesville) – it’s sad, it’s disgusting, it’s unbelievable that these things still exist. So I want to go a step further (and say) not only do I respect, but I understand the motivations of these players that are trying to do something about it. I want to be very clear with that, that’s where my heart is.”

Nearly four months after opting out his contract with the San Francisco 49ers, Colin Kaepernick remains a free agent. Now, well into the summer, Kaepernick is receiving unsolicited advice from the unlikeliest of sources.

49ers general manager John Lynch believes that Kaepernick would be well-served by releasing a statement, confirming his desire to play professional football. Lynch previously stated that Kaepernick would’ve been released by the 49ers if he hadn’t opted out of his previous deal.

“I think the way you could best help yourself is not to have someone talk for you, not have statements, but go sit down and give an interview and let people know where you stand because he makes a compelling case as to how bad he wants to be in the league when you talk to him,” Lynch said recently of Kaepernick during a radio appearance on KNBR.

Lynch’s comments appear to be somewhat disingenuous, seeing that the 49ers would’ve released Kaepernick under his oversight.

The executive clarified that he believes Kaepernick wants to play football, but there’s a perception that exists that he’s solely focused on protesting police brutality and racial inequality.

“I would tell you with my conversations with Colin, he is fully committed to wanting to be in this league,” Lynch said. “I gave that opinion to Colin myself: ‘I think you are having a little bit of an image crisis in terms of, not so much what you did last year, but people are wondering: Is this most important to you?’ At a position where the guys who succeed at the position are the guys who live it, breathe it, the CEOs at that position. And I think there is a perception that football is not at the top of the list.”

In any event, the timing of Lynch’s comments are certainly curious, as Kaepernick remains on the open market despite a bevy of lesser quarterbacks receiving contracts this summer.